A video game designer took these incredibly mesmerizing photos of Tokyo at night

06/13/2016

Technicolor images of Tokyo, depicting it in a way it's never been seen

For art director and photographer Liam Wong, the streets of Tokyo at night are mesmerizing, like the "cyberpunk world" in the 1982 blockbuster "Blade Runner." Wong, who currently serves as graphic design director at video game developer Ubisoft, was inspired to photograph Japan's capital city during a recent trip there.

"I was bewitched by how the city lit up, and I just kept taking picture after picture," he told Business Insider.

Influenced by his background in video games, Wong made mesmerizing, technicolor images of Tokyo, depicting it in a way it's never been seen before. Keep scrolling to see them.

Wong spent several weeks in Tokyo. At first, he stayed on the main path, venturing only to classic tourists spots.

"Then one night it rained, and the city came to life," he said.

"I got lost in the beauty of Tokyo at night ... visiting as many areas of the city as I could," he said.

"One thing I quickly became mesmerized by was that there is an art to using umbrellas in Japan ... I was fascinated by how the umbrellas pass without collision," he said. "Up, down, up, down, bobbing in a rhythmic stream."

The rain and the bright lights sparked Wong's imagination. "It was like living in the cyberpunk world that Syd Mead had created in Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner,'" he said.

He was visually stimulated by the hustle and bustle of the city, describing the energy as "incredible."

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As an art director and developer of video games, Wong was deeply inspired by Japan. "[It's] the birthplace of video games," he said.

"Having a background in games has definitely shaped my sensibilities and what I capture," Wong said. "Some of my shots are reminiscent of games like Hideo Kojima's 'Snatcher.'"

Wong describes himself as a "night crawler." "When I’m shooting a city at night, I stay out until the daylight returns," he said.

"I love capturing all of the weird and interesting things that go on after midnight," he said.

In tandem with his camera, Wong uses Adobe Creative Cloud to create the surreal aesthetic seen in his photographs.

"[My technique allows] me to take real moments and transform them into something surreal, to make the viewer question the reality depicted in each photograph," he said.